A Matter of Persuasion
by MyCedarChest
Summary: Tony is contemplating world domination now, and he has actually managed to persuade Pepper to join him.


Just a Matter of Persuasion 

**Some of the characters in this story belong to Marvel Comics and/or whoever else has current legal ownership of Iron Man, and not to me. I apologize for the use of the celebrities' names without their permission, however no harm or infringement of their rights was intended in any way, as this story is not for profit.**

"Oh god" Pepper groaned, looking at Tony in the mirror as she finished putting on her makeup. She wore a long floral dress which stopped at mid calf, a style which was more casual than business.

"Hit a nerve, did I?" Tony challenged as he moved to stand behind her, wearing only a towel loosely wrapped around his waist.

"Are you going to wear that towel to the show?" she teased.

"Stop trying to avoid my question." He whispered in her ear, after coming up behind her and wrapping his arms around her.

Pepper sighed deeply. She knew that she had to answer him truthfully or be tormented the rest of the morning with his insistent question.

"OK, I admit it." She started, locking eyes with him in the mirror as she finished putting her makeup in her bag, dropping her arms to her side in mock defeat. "I had a crush on Brad Pitt."

"That was **not** the answer I was looking for." Tony replied squeezing her gently and brushing his goatee against the side of her neck making her wiggle against him as his whiskers scratched her lightly.

"OK, OK" she started squirming even more in his arms as he continued moving his chin up and down her neck. "I admit that I fantasized about Brad Pit and his amazing ass."

"Ah ha!" He exclaimed releasing her from his grip, smiling victoriously at her as she turned around to face him. "**That's** the answer I was seeking."

"Are you satisfied now, Mr. Stark?" she asked looking at him with the beginnings of a smile slowly crinkling up the corners of her blue eyes.

"Not yet, Mrs. Stark." He said as he dramatically turned away from her and slowly undid the towel he was wearing revealing his naked back side to her. "Admit it. You fantasize about **my** tush now." He turned to look at her over one shoulder batting his eyes in a display of exaggerated flirting, still smiling broadly.

Pepper looked at his back and derriere. The bruising from his last mission was still painfully visible to her. She frowned slightly, her eyes revealing sadness to him.

Tony's smile faded immediately. He had forgotten about his bruises. He had developed such a high tolerance to pain in the past year, that being beat up and bruised was just normal for him now. He had just wanted to get a rise out of Pepper, not make her sad this morning. He quickly pulled the towel back around his waist, looking away from her. "I'm sorry Pepper. I forgot about my bruises. I didn't mean to upset you."

Before he could fasten the towel back around his waist, he felt her hands around his waist gently tugging on the towel. He closed his eyes and let go of the towel and she slowly pulled the towel away from his body and tossed it into the clothes hamper.

"I do admit it, Mr. Stark." Pepper quietly spoke, gently running her hands lightly along his muscles from his shoulders down to his buttocks feeling them tighten in response to her touch, stopping to gently knead the muscles in his buttocks. "I fantasize about your tush… a lot. **However,** the real thing is **so** much better."

Her touch, as usual, had started his blood rushing in a southerly direction. He concentrated on getting Tony Jr. to behave as the beginnings of an erection started to stir. He slowly turned around as she moved her hands to his hips, lightly gripping his hips as he turned. He locked eyes with her and a shy smile slowly emerged on his face. "**Good**. I'd hate to think about the PR nightmare you'd have on your hands if I kicked Pitt's ass in a jealous rage on camera."

"I don't think even **I **would be able to smooth **that** over." Pepper exclaimed looking up at the ceiling as if seeking divine intervention. "Please behave yourself while we are taping the show."

"No promises, Mrs. Stark." He chuckled softly pulling her into him gently. He knew that she could feel his growing erection.

"Tony" she warned in a low voice as her gaze drifted downward "you know we do not have time for this now."

"You started it." He said leaning over to kiss her softly. "You just can't keep your hands off me."

She pulled back from him and smiled. "I don't need to remind you that us being on the show was not **my **idea."

Tony looked deeply into her eyes. "I know. But after the show, I will make it up to you when we come back home and I have **my **way with you." He finished the sentence waggling his eyebrows suggestively.

"Oh, I don't know." She teased leaving him in the bathroom "**We** all might go out after we are done taping the show. You know….for dinner, maybe even dancing. I might get to see Brad shake his booty on the dance floor."

Tony strode past her on the way to the closet, glancing over at her, his eyes serious.

Seeing his expression, Pepper turned around and stuck her head inside the master closet as Tony began to put on his undershirt. His back was turned to her as she silently moved behind him. She reached out and put her hand on one of his still uncovered butt cheeks, and squeezed suggestively. He froze instantly. That done, she quickly left their bedroom softly laughing as she headed downstairs to make breakfast for them both.

Tony chuckled to himself and then called loudly after her. "Woman, you know that you are so going to be screaming my name tonight!"

"And that's different how?" she called back from the staircase as the sound of her steps grew more distant.

Tony sighed as he started to put on the shirt that Pepper had selected for him. Pepper was not a screamer at all, but she was definitely a moaner. Tony closed his eyes, remembering earlier this morning as he was thrusting deeply inside of her, with his mouth suckling her breasts. As he felt her orgasm ripple through her body, he moved his head up to kiss her passionately on the mouth as she came hard, clutching at him with her strong arms and wrapping her long legs around his waist, moaning deeply with her eyes squeezed tightly closed. "Down boy." he mumbled to himself, knowing better. He looked down to see Tony Jr. standing at full attention in all his lustful glory. Tony debated about going back into the shower for a little one on one with Tony Jr., but decided against it after looking at his watch. So he stuffed a defiant Tony Jr. into a pair of briefs and tugged his dress slacks over the very noticeable bulge. Tony Jr. would need to chill out on his own. He quickly finished dressing. As usual, he left his tie undone for Pepper to finish for him. That was one habit that he would keep for the rest of his life if he had his way.

They had only been married one month, and today was going to be their first "public" appearance together since getting married. Tony was hoping that today's appearance would bring public attention to a new charity venture between himself and Pepper. This charity was originally set up as an alternative for people wanting to buy wedding gifts for them. Tony had of course named the organization "IRON BABIES". Stark Industry employees were quick to get on board and provided all the necessary admin work for the creation and maintenance of the organization, and of course Tony and Pepper were the sponsors and spokespersons. They commissioned one of the old SI medical buildings into active service again for processing purposes. Iron Babies was to be an international charity whose sole purpose was to supply nutritional foods at no cost for children from infant up to toddler age living in poverty, disaster, or worn torn conditions. With Pepper's business connections, they had no trouble at all getting pledges of support from agribusinesses to transportation companies. Working with local food banks and Red Cross distribution networks, they were able to quickly develop and launch the organization. A special toll free number had been donated also, so if anyone wanted to donate, they called 1-IRONBABIES (476-622-2437). Stark Industries volunteers had also developed and maintained the website at .org.

Tony had received a call last week asking him if Pepper and he would be interested in filling an opening on a special hour long version of the Newlywed Game where celebrity newlyweds played for a $1,000 per point donation to the charity of their choice. Tony didn't care about the money of course. However, he thought that the notoriety of being on this show would bring the Iron Babies charity into a lot of TV homes thereby increasing the awareness and hopefully support of the organization. The show's producer had let it slip to Tony that Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie were to be one of the couples. Tony knew about Pepper's crush on Pitt, and the competitive side of his possessive personality couldn't say no to the possibility of showing Pitt up in front of a nationwide audience.

Talking Pepper into going on the show was difficult. Tony did his best to be very persuasive, trying both bribery and seduction, but to no avail. She was not a showboat like Tony, but always preferred being behind the scenes, and somewhat in control. Tony finally broke down and told her about Brad Pitt being on the show. She still hesitated. When Jarvis offered to tutor them on possible questions they would be asked, she finally agreed. Tony had finally realized that Pepper was worried that they wouldn't do well on the show. Pepper was every inch a fierce competitor, like himself. Losing was never an option with Pepper. After being around each other almost daily for the last 11 years, Tony found Pepper's concern to be ungrounded. For crying out loud, most of the time they even finished each other's sentences for one another. He believed that the Newlywed Game would be a piece of cake for the two of them.

At 10:30 AM Happy pulled the Bentley at the side entrance of the TV studio in Burbank where they were to tape the show. This was a private entrance for the studio and was located behind a security gate away from the public. All the couples were asked to meet in the Green Room just inside this side entrance. Tony opened his door ahead of Happy even making it around the car to open the door for him.

Pepper knew this was not a good sign: Tony was definitely hyper this morning, even more so than usual, constantly fidgeting in his seat like a 2 year old during the ride from home to the studio. Warning klaxons sounded in Pepper's head now. It was going to be a **long** 3 hours.

She silently held out her hand covered in a tissue up to Tony. Tony immediately spit out his gum into her hand. She quickly stashed the tissue covered gum in her purse to be thrown away later just as she had done for many years now.

Tony held out his hand to her as she climbed out of the car. He smiled at her as he took her hand, bringing it up to his mouth, and kissed her knuckles tenderly. He then pulled her into him, wrapping one arm around her waist protectively as he looked towards the back of their car. Pepper wrapped her free arm around his waist turning to watch with him.

Within a minute, a SI van pulled up right behind the Bentley. Tony had instructed the SI security chief Jimmy Thompson to be on hand with 10 of his security team for crowd control as they were shooting the show in front of an audience. Tony did not want to risk Pepper's safety with the local security guards. Happy was to park the Bentley and come inside with them also. As they walked into the building, Happy opened the door to the Green Room for them as the rest of the SI security moved towards the main studio where the audience was already in place awaiting the start of the show's taping.

As they walked into the Green Room, Happy politely excused himself to join the other SI security team after he scanned the room and found just the contestants and studio staff in the room. Pepper smiled at him as he gave her his usual half-salute before leaving.

Pepper and Tony made their way towards the studio personnel and were immediately greeted by the show's producer Hal with a big smile and wave.

"Mr. and Mrs. Stark, right on time you are!" Hal spoke out loudly moving towards them with his hand out as the other contestants turned to look their way. "Thanks for changing your schedule and coming on the show with such short notice."

Tony shook his hand briskly. Hal then moved to take Pepper's hand brushing a quick kiss to the back of her hand. Tony visibly bristled at Hal. Tony was extremely protective of Pepper. He didn't like any one, especially strangers, touching her, let alone kissing any part of her. Hal noticed Tony's body language and shrugged his shoulders in an apologetic way.

"Let's get everyone introduced, shall we?" Hal continued choosing to ignore Tony's stance, leading them over to the group.

Tony quickly glanced over at Pepper. She now had her game face on. He smiled knowingly at her and she smiled her Mona Lisa smile back at him indicating that he needed to play nice. He possessively placed his left hand on the small of her back as they followed behind Hal.

"Steven and Erin Tyler, meet Tony and Pepper Stark." Hal said as the couples shook hands.

"Iron Dude." Steven said with eyes wide. "I'm a big fan of yours. You kick ass, man. You too, Iron Dudette."

"Likewise." Tony replied smiling at Steven.

"I think." Pepper whispered to Tony as they walked away from Steven and Erin. Tony looked at her and smiled.

Hal led them over to the next couple. "Tony and Candice Romo, meet Tony and Pepper Stark." Hal said as they all shook hands.

"It's a pleasure to meet you both." Pepper said softly falling into her professional manners.

"The pleasure is all ours" Candice politely responded.

Hal smiled at them and moved on to the next couple. "Robin and Susan Williams, meet Tony and Pepper Stark." Hal beamed at the four of them as if knowing a secret.

Robin was visibly excited, almost hyper as he shook their hands. Pepper looked at Tony who was equally as giddy as Robin, and she immediately regretted agreeing to do the show. Tony had never ever needed encouragement to act out, and apparently neither did Robin. Pepper looked at Susan who was rolling her eyes skyward. Pepper smiled at her and thought to herself that maybe between Susan and herself, perhaps they stood a small chance at keeping their spouses somewhat in check.

Hal led them onto to meet the last couple. "Brad and Angelina Pitts, meet Tony and Pepper Stark." Hal raised his hand and signaled one of the studio staff.

Tony glanced at Pepper who was doing her best not to show excitement at meeting Brad Pitt. Pepper looked at Tony quickly and narrowed her eyes at him in a silent warning. The couples exchanged hand shakes and polite smiles.

"OK everyone, listen up." Hal began. "All of you know how the game works, so I won't waste time going over the rules. We want this to be fun, so feel free to enjoy yourself. Not you Robin. You get way too out of control. We need to keep this at a PG 13 level and not X."

Everyone laughed, except Robin who looked genuinely disappointed. "What about an R rating? Would that be OK?"

"Can you at least try for PG13?" Hal patiently requested.

"Maybe." Robin answered truthfully.

'Oh yeah' Pepper thought to herself 'This is going to be a **long** 3 hours.' She watched as Tony smiled broadly at Robin. Robin Williams was one of Tony's favorites. He had watched Mork and Mindy reruns as a child.

"OK everyone." Hal announced. "We are going to go into the studio after we get all of you wired, and please sit in the love seat under your photos. Our host Bob Eubanks will warm both you and the audience up once you are all seated. Remember Robin, PG 13."

"You're killing me here, Hal." Robin replied taking Susan's hand in his and smiling at her.

Studio personnel arrived, carrying clip on wireless mics for everyone. Tony refused to let the audio tech place one on Pepper. Tony took Pepper's mic from him and attached it to Pepper's dress himself, just above her right breast without any explanation to the tech, who stood there dumbfounded. Pepper smiled and politely thanked the audio tech before he walked away from her and Tony.

Tony laced his fingers with Pepper's and he leaned over to give her a quick kiss on the lips. "You look gorgeous, Mrs. Stark. I **am** one lucky bastard." He whispered to her.

"Handsome as always, Mr. Stark." Pepper whispered back, leaning in to return the kiss. "And yes, you **are**." Tony grinned at her. Pepper's face stayed serious, but her eyes held a twinkle of amusement in them.

Hal was the first one into the studio followed by Angelina and Brad, Steven and Erin, Tony and Candice, Robin and Susan, and last but not least Tony and Pepper.

As Tony and Pepper made their way into the studio, the applause grew noticeably louder with shouts of "Iron Man" being heard throughout the crowd. Tony flashed his famous peace sign to the crowd before sitting down next to Pepper on their love seat. He put his arm around her hugging her close to him. Pepper blinked a few times trying to adjust her eyes to the bright studio lights.

"You OK?" He asked her concerned.

"Fine." She replied laying her hand on his thigh and patting it softly. "Just getting use to the lights."

The applause finally died down. Pepper glanced around the set noting that Steven and Erin were seated on the far end of the semi circle of love seats. Next to them were Angelina and Brad. Tony and Candice were in the middle. Robin and Susan were next to Tony and Candice, with her and Tony seated at the other end of the semi-circle.

Within a minute, Bob Eubanks walked into the studio being met with another huge round of applause.

"He looks good to be in his seventies." Pepper whispered to Tony.

"You know what they say" Tony started winking at her "the seventies are the new sixties."

Pepper rolled her eyes at him and he laughed taking his left arm from around her and lacing the fingers of his left hand with her right and resting them both on his left thigh.

"I love you." Tony whispered as he turned towards her squeezing her hand.

"And I love you." Pepper whispered back squeezing his hand in return.

Bob Eubanks was charming and funny as he entertained not only the audience, but the contestants too. Starting with Angelina and Brad, he slowly moved from couple to couple introducing them to the audience and letting each couple talk about their charities.

Robin, of course, was not content to stay Robin, but did hysterical imitations of many people, including Bob Eubanks. Much to his credit, he was able to keep the majority of his comedy PG 13, with only a few four letter words getting out of his animated mouth. Bob finished up with them, tears in his eyes from laughing as he moved to stand in front of Tony and Pepper.

"So, Tony and Pepper Stark" Bob teased smiling broadly at them both and reaching out to shake their hands "you two aren't quite the run of the mill celebrities, are you?"

"Actually" Tony teased as he shook Bob's hand "I prefer to be called 'super hero'."

Pepper rolled her eyes at Tony's response, and she patted Tony gently on the arm. "I suppose that makes me super hero spouse." The audience laughed and a chant of "Iron Man" started up growing louder and louder by the second. Robin got up and joined in the chant also, imitating a cheerleader sans pom-poms, as Susan desperately tried to pull him back to his seat.

Bob watched Robin's antics for a minute with a smile, and then he raised his arms trying to quiet the audience down. Susan was finally able to pull Robin back in his seat. Bob turned once again to Tony and Pepper as the audience grew quiet.

"So you two have been married for one month, is that right?" Bob questioned them.

"Yes, it is." Pepper replied politely with a soft smile.

"We were best friends for almost 11 years before we married." Tony added as he turned his head to look lovingly at her.

"Well I know I speak for everyone here in congratulating the two of you." Bob said with a big smile. "And it seems that you have been very busy working on things other than your honeymoon in the past month. Can you tell us a little about this new charity of yours?

"I'm going to defer to my boss here." Tony said with a grin, glancing sideways at Pepper.

Pepper took a breath and began. "After we announced our marriage, we were inundated with gift offers. People's generosity was overwhelming. Tony and I wanted to channel their generosity into something charitable. Both of us are big supporters of the "Save the Children" foundation. We knew that this foundation had been having lots of trouble finding food suppliers for infant and toddler foods in disaster and war torn areas. The types of foods that I am referring to are called RUTF which means Ready to Use Therapeutic Foods. Iron Babies basically secures donations which supplements the purchase of raw foods with the donated raw foods from our agribusiness partners, and our Stark Industries volunteers process the food at one of our converted plants into infant and toddler specific RUTF foods as well as formula. Then we ship these foods out using our transportation partners to other charities' warehouses for distribution. These shipments then go out to indentified food banks, poverty areas, disaster areas, or war zones. As a donor, you even can specify by zip code or location that your donation will go to help. In short Iron Babies manufactures and ships super foods."

"Wow!" Bob said looking genuinely impressed as the quiet audience listened intently. "You managed to do all of this within a month's time?"

"If by 'you' you mean our Stark Industries volunteers and our partners, then yes we have." Pepper answered proudly.

"Never underestimate the power of volunteers." Tony added hugging her close "Especially when Pepper is leading them. She can be **very** persuasive."

Laughter rippled throughout the audience.

Bob smiled at them both. "I will leave the persuasion part to you two. I have been doing this show far too many years to step off into the topic of persuasion on any level." The audience laughed again.

Bob turned and walked back to center stage and turned to face the contestants. "Now here comes the fun part. The guys are going to leave and go backstage into an isolated part of our studio while the gals are answering our questions. So gentlemen, bid farewell to your wives and make your way back stage right where you will be escorted to the isolation area.

Pepper turned quickly to Tony as he wrapped his other arm around her in a tight embrace. "Tony" she began but was cut off as Tony placed his lips over hers in a kiss that was full of love, not passion.

"See you in a few, Mrs. Stark." He said after releasing her.

Pepper reached out and took one of his hands and squeezed it tenderly. "**Please **remember to play nice."

"I always play nice." He replied with a sly smile. Pepper rolled her eyes understanding the real meaning behind his smile as he stood up from the love seat and moved off stage followed by the other husbands.

Happy met up with Tony back stage as they were about to enter the isolation room. Tony nodded at him in greeting. "Be sure and stay with Pepper in the isolation room when the ladies come back stage."

"You got it, sir." Happy replied.

"Come on gentlemen." Robin said motioning him and Happy over to an empty couch. "We are going to have a joke telling contest while we wait."

"A what?" Tony asked intrigued.

"Joke. Telling. Contest." Robin repeated. "Come on, it will be fun." Robin pointed at Happy. "You first, big guy."

Happy smiled, and proceeded to tell several really funny jokes once they had taken their seats. Tony watched him in amazement. He never knew that Happy was so funny. Robin was right. They all enjoyed themselves.

Meanwhile, Pepper and the other wives were entertaining everyone with their antics. She was absolutely stunned by some of the questions. The ladies, especially Susan, were making some amusing commentary on the questions. She started to feel more at ease as Bob patiently asked the questions several times, trying his best to get an "honest" answer out of them. She found herself injecting more and more comments into the general discussion as the questions continued, and happily noted that the audience as well as Bob and the other wives appreciated her sometimes very sarcastic sense of humor.

"OK ladies" Bob remarked after the 10th question "That's it for you. We're going to bring your doting husbands back in and see how good they really are."

Tony literally jumped up into the love seat with Pepper, pulling her into him, and planting a soft kiss on her lips.

"Miss me, Mrs. Stark?" he whispered in her ear.

"Of course, Mr. Stark." She replied with a small smile "You didn't do anything that I'm going to have to fix, cover up, or plead plausible deniability to, did you?"

"Nope." He replied smiling brightly at her "We had a joke telling contest and Happy won."

"You must be kidding." she replied genuinely surprised.

"OK folks, here we go with Round 1." Bob announced happily "I think we have some great questions for you guys. So listen up. We will mix up the order that you will answer in, so you won't get too comfortable. Let's start with the Starks, shall we."

Tony and Pepper looked at Bob in surprise.

"Tony" Bob began with a twinkle in his eye "When was the first time you realized that you were seriously in love with Pepper?"

Tony looked at Pepper and smiled. "Two weeks after I hired her to be my personal assistant, almost 11 years ago"

Pepper smiled back at him as her answer was displayed.

"I'll do you a favor and won't ask you why it took you almost 11 years to ask her to marry you." Bob replied in disbelief.

Tony hugged Pepper possessively. "There's a long story behind that, Bob." Tony explained looking at Bob.

"I bet there is." Bob replied smiling at them both.

Ten points were now on the board for the Starks.

They were 3rd in line for the next question.

"OK Tony" Bob started moving to stand in front of Tony and Pepper "What specific food item does Pepper bring home from the market that you absolutely cannot stand."

"Fresh spinach?" Tony replied wincing a little "I can't stand the stuff, but Pepper makes me eat it anyway. She says it's a good source of iron. I've tried to tell her I'm getting way more than enough **iron** already, but she won't listen to me. " The audience laughed.

Pepper leaned over and gave him a quick kiss. Twenty points now stood on their score board.

The third question was a fairly simple one, and all the husbands had guessed correctly. Tony and Pepper were going last on this one. Tony was ready with his answer before Bob even repeated the question.

"Tony" Bob asked "what piece of jewelry other than your wedding ring did Pepper say was your favorite?"

"My dad's pocket watch." He answered quickly, already moving to kiss Pepper.

They were now in a three way tie for first place with the Pitts, and the Williams.

The fourth question put Tony's ego out in full view.

"Tony" Bob asked smiling at Tony and actually batting his eyes at him "Who did Pepper say was more attractive to the opposite sex, you or her?"

Tony couldn't believe that Bob had just batted his eyes at him and sat there stunned for a second. "Me, of course!" He answered as Bob started laughing in earnest.

Pepper swatted Tony's arm with her card in mock anger, then quickly smiled at him as their score increased another ten points.

They were still tied for first, but surprisingly with only the Williams' now. Brad Pitt's ego had clashed with Angelina's and Brad had lost.

They got to go first on the next question.

Bob walked over to them slowly, as if sizing them up. Tony didn't know if he should be worried or not.

"Let's see here" Bob began and he looked at Tony "Pretending you are a woman, what one word would Pepper use to describe your personality: Princess, Prissy, or Perky?"

"I am surprised that 'petulant' is not on that list." Tony replied as the audience and Bob laughed. "Princess, Prissy, or Perky, huh. I'm going to guess here, and say Prissy?"

Pepper leaned over and kissed him quickly on the cheek. Tony smiled.

Robin and Susan kept their streak alive, but not before Robin role played all three parts. He barely managed to keep it within the PG 13 limits, however.

The sixth question had stumped all the couples so far. Since they were last on this one, Tony had time to think about his answer.

"Getting a little mechanical here, Tony." Bob said smiling "If Pepper had to bring you in for servicing, like a car, what do you think Pepper would request that the mechanic repair: Your gear shift, your gear box, your airbag, or your gas tank?"

"Well" Tony began with a smile "My gear shift is in great shape, if I do say so myself." Bob and the audience laughed at that, "My gear box seems to be holding up well, so far. And my fuel tank isn't leaking, at least not yet anyway. So I'm going to say my air bag, because she is always concerned for my safety."

Pepper smiled at him, then leaned over and placed her head against his shoulder as the audience applauded for them. He leaned over and kissed her tenderly on the forehead. They had just taken over first place.

The seventh question was starting to get a little out of control. Robin and Susan were first and Robin showed off his improv skills with lots of anatomical gestures. He had everyone literally crying with laughter. And he actually wound up guessing the right answer.

Bob turned to Tony and Pepper, still wiping away tears.

"Tony" Bob started "I hope Robin's not rubbing off on you. OK same question for you: If you had to dress in drag for one day, which of the following do you think Pepper said that you would enjoy the most: the underwear, the shoes, the makeup, or the jewelry?"

Tony didn't hesitate at all. He and Victoria's secret had a long standing relationship based on mutual admiration only. "The underwear." He answered as Pepper laughed. Tony kissed her on the lips and then looked at her mischievously "This isn't giving you any ideas, is it Mrs. Stark? I don't do drag for anybody, not even for you. Iron Man does not do lace." Laughter filled the studio.

Pepper hugged him and whispered "Not yet!" into his ear and Tony looked at her suspiciously.

Tony braced himself for the next question because he and Pepper were going to be first.

Bob moved over to stand in front of Tony and Pepper trying to contain a smile. "Here we go with more of a scientific question for you Tony. If Pepper were blindfolded in a room with all the men she has dated before you were married including yourself of course, how did Pepper say she would recognize you: by your smell, by your touch, or by your taste?"

Tony smiled. Pepper had the keenest nose of anyone he had ever met. "By smell. She tells me I have a unique smell."

Pepper shyly smiled at Bob, her dimples showing.

"OK, Pepper" Bob started his interest obviously peeked "Tell us: how does Iron Man smell?"

Pepper looked at Bob and laughed. "He smells like machine oil, ozone, and Hugo Boss before he gets into the Iron Man suit. Once he gets out of the Iron Man suit he smells like burnt machine oil, ozone, and week old dirty gym socks." She said as he laced his fingers with hers and kissed her hand tenderly. The audience laughed as Bob shook his head in amusement.

Robin had gotten up and moved to stand next to Tony. He quickly leaned over next to Tony's left ear and inhaled deeply in an exaggerated fashion. "Yep, he smells like Ode to BO all right. Very distinctive indeed."

Robin hurriedly made his way back to his seat as everyone laughed at him.

At the end of that question, Tony and Pepper still had a 10 point lead over Robin and Susan.

The next question was very straightforward, but easy to get wrong.

They were second to last this time, but Tony remembered that Jarvis had quizzed them on this same question and Tony was reasonably sure of what Pepper's answer would be.

"Tony" Bob began "What did Pepper say is the longest amount of time you two have gone without making love?"

"Two days." He replied as Pepper smiled shyly at him. Tony suddenly felt guilty knowing that such a long period was due to the big rescue mission he had gone one the morning after their wedding night. "Normally we don't go over two hours." He teased, looking over at Pepper who was starting to blush. "So Bob, we may need a break any minute now so Mrs. Stark and I can go back stage alone for at least 30 minutes of quality newlywed time."

Pepper smacked him in the shoulder immediately as Bob shook his head.

"Sorry folks, no can do." Bob teased "The show must go on, you know. In spite of your hormones saying otherwise."

For the last question, Bob moved once again to stand in front of Tony and Pepper. "Since you are still the leaders for this round, you get to answer the last question first. Which part of your anatomy did Pepper say that you have admitted to her is shaped all wrong for the rest of your body? You will need to be specific."

Tony was caught off guard with that question, and he tried to stall in order to give his mind some time to think. "Since Pepper knows that my body is, in fact, perfect, this question is going to be a stretch for me. Let's see here." He tapped his chest just above the reactor in an unconscious gesture. Pepper glanced at him knowing this question was stumping him. After a few seconds, his face brightened with a memory, one he hoped that Pepper had shared earlier when answering the question originally. "My nose. It doesn't fit well with the rest of my face."

Pepper breathed out an audible sigh of relief as their scoreboard went up another 10 points to stop at 100. Tony smiled and wrapped his arms around her hugging her close as Pepper laughed in relief.

After all of the other couples had finished with their answers, Tony and Pepper were in the lead by 20 points ahead of Robin and Susan. Brad and Angelina were tied with Tony and Candice at 60, and Steven and Erin were last at 50.

"OK folks" Bob started as he made his way back to center stage. "It's the guys turn to answer questions, while you gals go back stage into our isolation area. So ladies please exit stage right."

"Come here my gorgeous, smart wife" Tony began, pulling Pepper close to him into another hug. He looked into her eyes deeply with a smile slowly appearing on his face. "We Starks are going to conquer the world, you know Mrs. Stark."

"I know, I know. First Newlywed Game domination, and then world domination." She replied kissing his nose. "You had better behave yourself while I'm gone."

He kissed her quickly on the lips and then let her go. She took one of his hands in hers as she rose from the love seat. "I'll try, but still no promises." Tony teased as he slowly let her fingers go.

Susan reached over as she walked past them and grabbed one of Pepper's arms pulling her away from Tony. "Come on Pepper, we need to have some quality girl time together." Susan teased. "And I definitely need some time away from my crazy husband."

Pepper laughed and let Susan lead her back stage. She looked up to find Happy waiting for her at the door to the Isolation Room.

"Tony's orders, Pepper." Happy started opening the door for all of the ladies "I am to stay with you until you go back into the studio."

Pepper started to protest, but thought better of it.

"Hope you don't mind a bunch of gossipy woman for the next hour then." Susan said as she walked past Happy.

Happy winced slightly as Pepper patted him on the arm gently as if trying to comfort him.

Back inside the studio, Bob was busy trying to get everyone's attention back to him, instead of Robin who was busy telling "Knock, Knock" jokes to the audience.

"OK Robin, one more and then it's question time." Bob said and Robin nodded his head in agreement.

Their questions were a wide range of types, with several totally outrageous ones thrown in. Some were definitely there to start arguments with their wives. One of the questions even had Robin up out of the love seat and actually sitting with each of the guys on their love seats. Robin was trying to outrageous the outrageous questions and doing a great job at it.

After all of their answers had been recorded, Bob walked to center stage. "OK guys, let's get the gals…" He stopped suddenly as a man jumped onto the stage from the audience, brandishing what appeared to be a pistol as he ran to stand in front of Steven, the gun pointed directly at Steven's head.

Tony first looked at the man with the gun, and then he focused on the gun itself.

Back in the Isolation Area, Happy's radio came to life with Jimmy's voice issuing orders. Happy froze listening intently.

"Happy" Pepper immediately got up and walked towards Happy, concern spreading over her face "What's happened?"

Happy looked at her. "We have a gunman on stage. Apparently targeting Mr. Tyler. Jimmy has clean shots at the gunman, but Mr. Stark is waving them off target."

All of the women got up to gather around Pepper.

"It's OK." Pepper said calmly to them all. "Mr. Stark has had a lot of experience with this sort of thing. No one is to leave this room until the situation is resolved." She motioned to Happy quickly.

Happy moved to pull the couches against the middle of the back wall of the room. He then went to stand to one side of the door. "I want all of you ladies to move down on the floor behind the couches, now."

Pepper hesitated. "You too, Pepper." Happy called out to her. "Hurry. Stay down and stay quiet." Happy drew his weapon and turned off the overhead lights leaving them only in the light provided by the "EXIT" sign above the door.

Pepper moved to the floor next to Erin. "Don't worry, Steven will be all right. Tony will make sure nothing happens to anyone."

Suddenly, the only noise in the room was the sound of the wall clock slowly ticking the seconds.

Tony got up from his love seat and slowly walked towards Bob watching the gunman intently in order to gauge his reaction to his movement. The gunman was focused solely on Steven at the moment. Tony quickly took Bob by the arm and walked him over to Tony Romo's love seat and motioned both Bob and Tony behind it. He looked at Robin and Brad in turn and with a jerk of his head, they moved behind their love seats also.

He then turned and started a slow walk back towards the gunman who quickly turned his head towards Tony. A look of fear came into the gunman's eyes. Tony intently studied the gunman's weapon. He raised his hand and quickly signaled the SI security to stand down. Steven was on the verge of panic at this point with the barrel of the gun less than 2 feet from his head.

"Hey there" Tony calmly said "Why don't you put that down so we can talk about what's going on with you. You know I use to make weapons for a living, and I know a 'Toys-R-Us' model when I see one."

Steven's mind slowly registered Tony's words and he visibly started to calm down, the color returning to his face slowly.

The man turned away from Tony and spoke directly to Steven. "My sister tried her best to get on American Idol. She's very talented. And I'm not just saying that because I'm her brother. You guys never even gave her a chance to audition. You just told her to try again next year because you ran out of audition time for the day. Our dad is slowly dying from liver disease and he won't be around next year. Can't you give her a chance? I know this is a bad way to beg for an audition for her, but when I found out you were going to be on the Newlywed Game, this was all I could come up with for a plan."

Tony quickly bridged the gap between himself and the gunman and gently took the toy gun from his hand.

Steven looked over at the man who now had tears in his eyes. "OK man. Give me your sister's name and a contact number and I will make sure she gets into the LA auditions tomorrow."

"Please don't hold a grudge against my sister. She doesn't have any idea what I'm doing here today." The man begged.

Steven got out a pen and small notebook from his shirt pocket and took down the man's sister's name and number.

Tony turned and motioned the studio security onto the stage and they proceeded to handcuff the gunman. "Steven" Tony asked "Are you going to press charges on him?"

"No" Steven answered looking at the man intently "But your sister better be able to sing like a bird, man."

The gunman actually smiled. "Just give her a chance, you'll hear for yourself."

As they led the man away, Tony looked at Steven "Are you OK?" Tony asked smiling at Steven.

"I was about 2 seconds away from pissing my pants. Thanks for saving me from embarrassing myself, Iron Dude." Steven replied with a smile. He looked over towards the other love seats "Hey Bob, on with the show, man!"

Tony Romo helped Bob to his feet.

"I've been doing this show off and on for almost 45 years, and this is a first for me." Bob commented moving over to shake Tony Stark's hand. "Good eye, Iron Man."

"I'm glad the gun was a fake." Tony replied laughing "My Iron Man Suit is in the car."

"Oh now you tell us." Robin said faking being indignant as he comically crawled over the top of the love seat to land on his side into a relaxed prone position.

When the incident had started, all the mics on the stage were killed at Bob's signal. Bob had his share of calamities on camera during his career. He didn't want a panic stampede to start in the audience, further complicating the situation. It worked: the audience was confused but stayed put, trying to collectively decide if this was part of the show or not. Bob turned to the audience as the mics were turned back on. "OK folks, like Steven said: On with the show!"

The audience applauded really not at all sure of what had just happened.

Happy's radio broke the silence as Jimmy let Happy know what everything was OK, and he turned the lights back on in the Isolation Room. "I just got the all clear. The gunman is in custody, no shots fired, and no one has been hurt. Apparently the gun was a toy. Tony spotted it right away and that's why he had security stand down."

Pepper got up and walked over to Happy. "Thank god no one is hurt. I guess we will find out what happened later from Tony."

One of the studio managers opened the door to the Isolation Room. She looked at the misplaced couches in confusion. "Let's go Ladies. It's time to rejoin your husbands."

As Pepper made her way to their love seat, Tony rose and greeted her with a hug. He then took her hand and pulled her onto the loveseat.

"I can't leave you alone even for a few minutes, can I?" she teased meeting his lips in a quick kiss.

"Hey, I'm innocent in what happened, Pep." Tony teased, looking over at Robin for confirmation. "Ask Robin if you don't believe me."

Robin turned to look at Pepper, a solemn expression on his face. "Nope, Tony didn't start any trouble, but he sure stopped some. I'm so proud of our boy here, I could just burst!" Robin started to tear up dramatically.

"Oh please" Pepper replied laughing "the level of BS here is rising quicker than I can certainly shovel it." She turned serious, and pulled Tony to her and whispered. "You will tell me what happened later, right?"

"Every detail, Mrs. Stark. I promise." Tony ghosted his lips over her cheek. "Especially the part where I saved everyone from certain death."

Pepper eyed him curiously. Tony smiled knowingly at her.

Bob moved to the center of the stage again. "OK Ladies, it's your turn to shine. Just a reminder for you of how this will work. I will read each of you a question and you will answer it based on what you think your husband would say."

They went second for the first question. As Bob moved in front of them he smiled warmly at them. "Pepper, where did you two share your first kiss? Meaning the exact physical location."

"On the roof top of a multistoried office building adjacent to the Stark Expo in New York City." She replied without hesitation. "Since Tony flew me to the rooftop, I don't have an address for the building though."

Tony smiled and kissed her on the cheek.

"He flew you there?" Bob questioned with a smile. "Let me guess: another long story, right?"

Pepper smiled. "A very long story, indeed." She replied.

Their score moved up to 110.

Bob turned away from them and went on to the next question. Pepper and Tony were the last to be questioned.

"OK Pepper" Bob started "What flower did Tony say that describes you first thing in the morning: Bird of Paradise, Sunflower, or Snap Dragon?"

"I am definitely a morning person, so he had better have said 'Sunflower'." Pepper replied looking sideways at Tony. Tony leaned into her and kissed her soundly on the lips.

The Starks were still leading the rest of the couples with 120 points.

Bob moved to stand in front of them. They were going first on the next question. Bob smiled at her as he regarded the high heel fastened to her foot. "Pepper, how many pairs of shoes did Tony say that you own?"

Pepper braced herself. This was a Jarvis question. She hoped that Tony remembered the number. "Currently 210" was her quiet reply.

"If she didn't donate her shoes every year, we would have to build a climate controlled storage building just for her shoes." Tony added. Pepper smiled at him knowing he was probably right.

Their score moved up to 130. Robin and Susan were still 20 points behind them.

They were the fourth couple for the next question. Robin and Susan were going last on this question. All of the other couples had already gotten the wrong answer. This was a hard question. Pepper knew how she was going to answer, but she was still uncertain that Tony would have put her answer down as his answer. Bob moved again to stand in front of them.

"Pepper" Bob started "what is the most unusual item that you have in your purse today. Be prepared to open your purse and show us the item."

Pepper looked at Tony who shrugged his shoulders. "I'm not sure about this, but I'm going to say Tony's used chewing gum. I always make him spit it out into a tissue before we get out of the car. I suppose that used gum would be considered unusual."

Tony ducked his head and smiled. Pepper looked at him questioningly.

"OK Pepper, you're going to have to show it to us before we can accept it as your answer." Bob replied as Pepper handed her purse to Bob. Bob opened up her purse and pulled out a tissue with a wad of gum embedded in it.

"Here it is." Bob replied as Robin jumped up to look at the tissue.

"Let me have it, Bob." Robin teased reaching for the tissue "This baby is going on EBay by this afternoon."

Tony laughed at Robin and Bob smiled as he put the tissue back in her purse and handed Pepper her purse back. Pepper looked over her shoulder at their score and watched the number grow by 10 points.

They went first on the next question. "Pepper" Bob started as he stood directly in front of Pepper "The guys had a lot of fun with this question. Here it is: If Tony had been born gay and never married, which one of the other husbands on the show today would Tony have picked as his lover?"

Pepper had always prided herself on having an unreadable facial expression when under stress. But she was struggling to keep a straight face as she listened to the question.

"This is going to be tough. I mean all of the guys here are good looking, successful, and have great personalities. What more could a guy want, right?" Pepper deadpanned smiling demurely at Bob "But Tony has always had a thing for blondes, so I'm going to go with Brad." she said calmly.

She looked at Tony who was actually starting to blush. She started laughing at him.

"A thing for blondes?" Tony chided her. "How absolutely mean of you."

He wrapped his arms around her waist and buried his head in her lap as Pepper stroked his head, still laughing.

"Man" Bob commented as he laughed at the site of Tony lying prone on Pepper "You Starks are tough competitors. We have yet to trip you two up."

They went second on the next question as Bob once again stepped up in front of them.

"Another automotive question for you." Bob started "When you two are traveling down Lover's Lane, what gear did Tony say was your favorite: first, second, third, or reverse?"

Pepper turned to look at Tony sternly. "You better not have said reverse, Mr. Stark." The audience laughed.

Tony continued to look down at his feet, not wanting to give her any clues.

"OK then" she continued "I really have no idea, so I'm guessing second gear."

Tony threw his arms around her for a hug as their score climbed even higher.

Being fourth on the next question helped Pepper gather her thoughts on coming up with the answer that Tony had chosen.

Bob moved to stand in front of them. "The questions keep getting harder, don't they? Pepper, on your wedding night, which magazine did Tony say best described you: National Geographic, Seventeen, or Cosmopolitan?"

"If you know what's good for you, Anthony Edward Stark, you had better have said Cosmopolitan." She teased waiting for Tony's reaction.

Tony pulled her into his arms and kissed her tenderly. "No worries there, Virginia Anne Stark."

The eighth question proved to be tough for all the couples. Tony and Pepper were the last couple for this question.

"Pepper" Bob asked smiling his usual smile "As a player on the field of love, what penalty did Tony say that you commit most often: illegal contact, pass interference, or holding?"

Pepper was totally stumped, but tried not to show it. She closed her eyes for a second running the definitions for the three penalties through her head slowly.

"Boy, this one is hard." she said doubt in her voice "I'm going to say Pass Interference, because I can see where Tony's mind would be around anything involving a 'pass'."

Tony looked over at her and smiled. "You know me well, Mrs. Stark. You have been interfering with my passes for almost 11 years now."

The ninth question involved personal hygiene, a topic that Pepper was sure that Tony would never get correct. The experiences they have shared in the shower since becoming man and wife had always started out sexual, not cleansing. The actual showering that followed was usually performed in a post-coital haze rendering their memories as fogged as the shower enclosure's glass walls.

They were going second on this question. Bob moved to stand in front of Pepper.

"Trying to dig some dirt up on you two here." Bob began "In the shower, did Tony say that you soap yourself from: top to bottom, front to back, or bottom to top?"

"Are you sure there isn't a fourth answer along the lines of: 'Give the washrag to Tony'?" she said seriously, patting Tony on the arm tenderly.

Bob and the audience laughed. "I'm sorry Pepper, but this isn't an open ended question."

"Understood. My answer would be Top to Bottom then." She said squeezing her eyes closed in worry.

"Are you sure that you two have only been married for one month?" Bob teased with a smile, moving then to stand in front of Robin and Susan who were next.

Tony put his arm around her and squeezed her shoulders gently as he whispered. "Only one more to go, Baby Mama."

Like in the first round, Bob walked to stand before Tony and Pepper with the last question, ahead of the other couples.

"Last question for you Pepper." Bob cheerfully announced. "Which outdoor sport did Tony say that you were better than him at?"

Pepper turned to smile victoriously at Tony "Beach volleyball, definitely."

Tony pulled her close and kissed her passionately on the lips. He had been waiting to do this since they arrived at the studio. The audience applauded and cheered for them as Pepper wrapped her arms around him as they continued to kiss.

"OK kids, break it up." Bob good naturedly told them. "We still need to ask the other couples the same question. This show ain't over yet."

Pepper pulled away from Tony, a blush creeping up on her face now. Tony looked at her and smiled wickedly leaning over to whisper in her ear. "We will continue this at home, Mrs. Stark."

"I'm counting on it, Mr. Stark" she whispered back to him.

They lay in bed together late that afternoon lightly dozing as they recovered from making love for the third time. Slowly Pepper raised her head up from Tony's shoulder looking at his relaxed face.

"Thank you for convincing me to be on the show." She softly said moving her hands gently along his abdominal muscles, lightly stroking them "I had fun, and we met some really great couples. I am a little worried about going over to Robin and Susan's for a Bar-B-Que though. I hope the fire station is close to their home."

"We can always bring Dummy along for fire watch." He replied with a laugh as he opened his eyes slowly and moved his hand to stroke her hair tenderly. He then reached down and placed his hand under her chin and gently tilted her head up towards him. "I know that you were out of your element today, but you did great." His eyes suddenly darkened with emotion. "I am very proud of you, Mrs. Stark."

She leaned her head up and kissed him deeply pulling his head down slightly. He moaned into her mouth as she placed her hands at the back of his neck and rolled slowly onto her back pulling him with her, not breaking the kiss. As they continued to kiss, her hands drifted down from his neck to his back, and then finally to his buttocks, gently squeezing them. She smiled against his mouth. He broke the kiss pulling back from her just enough to see her face, which had brighten into a huge smile.

"You just can't keep your hands off my tush, can you?" he teased her as he leaned down to drop kisses all along her sternum, her abdomen, and into her belly button. He suddenly blew a huge raspberry into her belly button. She let out a single squeak and moved her hands back to grab him by the ears.

"Am I going to have to flag you for Pass Interference, Mrs. Stark?" he asked as she held him firmly by the ears.

"Only if I can flag you for Illegal Use of Mouth." She replied with a smile.

"That would be actually be Unsportsmanlike Conduct, not Illegal Use of Mouth." He corrected as she let go of his ears. He moved his mouth back up onto her abdomen, running his tongue over the firm muscles he found there. He nipped at her ribs playfully and she wiggled underneath him. He then moved his head further up and covered her right nipple with his mouth. Pepper moaned deeply and brought her hands into his hair, stroking his hair gently as he continued to lick and suckle her nipple. He then moved his mouth to her left nipple, licking and sucking on it until she moaned again. Hearing her moans, he felt himself grow hard once again.

"God, woman" he whispered as he planted tiny kisses up to her neck, then alternating between kissing and licking her long neck. "So sexy. Want you." He raised his head up to hers and looked longingly at her. "Want to make love to you again." He said simply as their lips crashed together hungrily.

"Want you too." Pepper softly said breaking the kiss and looking into his eyes, seeing them smoldering with desire for her. He gently raised one of her legs up over his hip as he shifted himself over slightly. She reached down and took his manhood in her hand stroking him lightly as a low groan rumbled deep within his chest. He slowly pushed himself into her warmth, his body trembling slightly with desire. This was one of Pepper's favorite positions. She loved the feeling that the angle of their bodies against one another made where they were joined.

She leaned her head to the left and kissed his forehead which was now becoming damp with sweat. He leaned up to her, his eyes locking with hers for a split second before he kissed her passionately, thrusting his tongue inside her mouth as they kissed. She wrapped her left arm around him and pulled him deeper into the kiss, pulling on the damp curls at the base of his neck. Her hips being raised just slightly let her feel his balls as they slapped against her with each of Tony's thrusts, and that feeling combined with the sound made her even more aroused. Her hands moved all over his body, soothing him as she touched his glistening body, but at the same time sustaining the tension throughout his body. Time seemed to slow as she lay there in his arms as he continued his steady rhythm, punctuating his thrusts with passionate kisses and touches all over her body. She felt like every nerve ending in her body was straining in an effort to connect with him. She had never had such feelings for anyone like this ever, and she was certain that she would never feel this way about anyone ever again.

With Pepper, having sex was truly love making, and Tony was certain he would never, ever grow tired of how good it made him feel to physically love her. Only with her was his goal her orgasm, and not his. He was completely unselfish when it came to Pepper. He trusted her completely as his lover, and she always saw to it that his body's needs were never unmet. Physically, their bodies fit together perfectly, no matter what position they chose. Tony was determined to work their way through their Karma Sutra book slowly and surely, enjoying every moment of the journey. Apart from the physicality of their relationship, on an emotional level he was absolutely sure that she was the love of his life, and that there would never be anyone else for him.

He moved his left hand up to each of her breasts, alternating between palming them and tweaking the nipples. Pepper responded to him by lifting her hips and arching into each of his thrusts. Tony felt himself start to spiral out of control at that point, his thrusts becoming deeper and faster.

Pepper knew that they were both getting close. Though her mind was becoming more hazy by the second, she managed to take Tony's left hand and pull it down to her center, his fingers quick to rub her reddish blonde curls, instinctively knowing what she wanted and needed from him. He found her clit with his thumb as his fingers continued their massage. She felt herself tense involuntarily as her orgasm started, rippling down the length of her spine spreading goose bumps in its wake. As her vaginal walls started contracting, she felt him speed up his thrusts, wanting to finish with her. She concentrated on clamping down on his manhood, feeling his body stiffen in response. As her orgasms surged, she felt as if she was about to lose consciousness, and she tried to focus on the feel of his flesh buried in her. She could feel his heat and the friction of his erotic movements within her walls. Suddenly his rhythm faltered and she heard him cry out her name as she felt wet heat surge into her body from his. He continued to erratically thrust into her as he emptied himself until, at last, he stopped.

They lay there wrapped together in sweaty bliss for a few minutes as their pulse and respirations slowed. Lovingly, she reached over with her right hand and brushed the hair and perspiration from his brow. He continued to lay there with his eyes closed as a smile started at the corner of his mouth and slowly spread across his face.

"Now that we have conquered the game show world" he softly said opening his eyes to gaze at her sleepily "how about conquering the talk show world next, Mrs. Stark?"

"Nice try, Mr. Stark." She replied with a yawn "But your powers of persuasion are going to have step it up a bit in order to convince me to go on any talk show willingly."

"But you forget that I know you have a crush on a particular talk show host, my dear wife." He said raising his eyebrows in silent challenge.

"We'll see my dearest husband." She replied patting him softly on the top of his head as he closed his eyes again. She was finding it more difficult by the second to hold her own eyes open. "Sleep first. World domination can wait for at least a couple of hours."


End file.
